A series of laws and procedures promulgated by now-retired Pope Benedict XVI and, especially, by Pope Francis to protect children, promote the investigation of allegations of clerical sexual abuse and punish offenders are included in a heavily revised section of the Code of Canon Law.
The U.S. Bishops Conference chairman of evangelization and catechesis is calling the Vatican’s recently instituted ministry of the catechist a “beautiful thing” to try to evangelize an increasingly secularized nation.
Meeting new recruits to the Swiss Guard, Pope Francis thanked the young men for having chosen to serve the successor of St. Peter and he thanked all the guards for their diligence and service.
Under the gaze of a seventh-century icon of Mary, Pope Francis launched a monthlong, global recitation of the rosary, pleading for Mary’s intercession for the end of the COVID-19 pandemic. And he prayed May 1 that Mary would move people’s consciences “so that the enormous amounts spent to increase and perfect weapons are instead used to promote research to prevent similar catastrophes in the future.”
Greeting visitors in St. Peter’s Square after nearly a month of tight restrictions due to the pandemic, Pope Francis said he was happy to see people allowed to gather and be present for Sunday noonday prayer.
The Vatican’s criminal tribunal held a hearing for the crime of shoplifting from one of the storage areas in the small city-state, with the defendant denying culpability due to his psychological state at the time.
Increasing vocations to the priesthood, improving the way laypeople and priests work together and ensuring that service, not power, motivates the request for ordination are all possible outcomes of a major symposium being planned by the Vatican in February 2022.
Pope Francis said faith is not an “album of past memories” and that “Jesus is not outdated,” nor is God something that can be filed away as a childhood memory because he’s present at “every moment of our lives” on Saturday, April 3.
Pope Francis on Easter offered consolation to all those still struggling as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, and he urged speeding up production of COVID-19 vaccines amid global delays and ensuring they reach the poorest countries.
In a surprise move, Pope Francis on Holy Thursday celebrated the Mass of the Lord’s Supper – one of the most sacred liturgies on the Catholic calendar – at the private apartment of Italian Cardinal Angelo Becciu, who resigned from his post earlier this year at the pope’s direct request.
